Sydney Uni American Football Club

Alex Klaric (82) was unstoppable with 22 points from 3 touchdowns and 2 conversions

The Cubs came away from their Central Coast road trip with a commanding 66-12 victory over the Sharks.  The win moved the Cubs into a three-way tie for top spot on the ladder after the Titans were beaten by the Seahawks on Friday night.

The Cubs made light of the hot conditions and got off to a hot start.  Cubs defensive lineman Sergan Isik recovered a fumble on the second play from scrimmage and the offence took over, quarterback Sam Darcy finding wingback Alex Klaric open for a touchdown to open the scoring.  It would be a recurring theme, with Klaric holding 4 scoring receptions (2 TDs, 2 2pts) and even rushing a touchdown from fullback late in the game.

While the Sharks scored on a long bomb on their next possession to bring the score back to 8-6, that was as close as they would get as the Cubs offence continued to roll.  Darcy and Francis O’Neill ran in the next two touchdowns and Darcy converted both scores with passes to Klaric – the second on a 15 yard throw after having to double back to fetch a wayward snap.

There was no way past the Cubs' defensive line for the Sharks' running game

Then the defence decided to join in on the scoring action.  Captain Daniel Pearson had been shifted to linebacker for the day and showed great positional awareness to sniff out a Sharks trick play, with a receiver throwing for the quarterback after taking a hand-off.  Pearson pounced on the pass and beat the cover to the endzone for a pick 6.  After a conversion run from O’Neill, the Cubs had a 32-6 lead and the game in their control.

Freshman Krishan Dass came in at quarterback and lead the offence with flair.  The Cubs had all of their offensive linemen available and it did not matter which unit was in the game, the offence continued to roll.  Dass drove the offence downfield and threw his first career touchdown pass to Alex Klaric, who did well to get open and take a great catch at the back of the endzone.  With another O’Neill conversion run, the score was 40-6 at halftime.

Dass opened the second half at quarterback and continued to drive the ball. He threw his second touchdown to Max Granger on a corner route and, with the help of a long Granger run on a trap play, drove the Cubs the length of the field for a touchdown to O’Neill on the ground.

Daniel Pearson sacked the quarterback and returned an interception for a touchdown

The Sharks were putting the ball in the air on offence, but the Cubs secondary of Chevy Abraham-Jacob, Vlad Matovic, Stanley Chin and Justin Chow were up to the task, breaking up 5 pass attempts and Chin bringing in his second pick for the year.  Abraham-Jacob led the tackle count for the second game in a row, with Pearson and Chow just behind.

With Darcy back at the helm, the Cubs ran in three more touchdowns – two to Darcy and one more to Klaric – to round out the scoring at 66-12.

Sam Darcy (84) about to put Max Granger (39) away for 2 points on the option

The Cubs played with real heart to get the result.  No play showed this more than when Max Granger chased down a runaway Shark to stop a score after a fumbled conversion attempt.  The Cubs now face the Chiefs at Craik Park in 2 weeks.